Clocks
by Blackout1134
Summary: First Fanfic - Set shortly after "You're Getting Old", Stan contemplates and mulls over the reality of a new life and relives a few memories from the past.  T - Some language.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: Yes, yes, this is my first Fanfic, so go easy. It is very short; I didn't want to go for a 10 chapter book on my first try. I got a little inspiration from the song "Clocks" by Coldplay, hence the name, and it also happened to be playing when I was thinking of something to write. Stan is pondering his old life, remembering a few incidents along the way. Will he sink further into his cynicism, or will there be a somewhat little kind of light at the end of his long tunnel?**

**I do not own or take credit from Matt and Trey's South Park.**

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><p><strong>Clocks<strong>

Stan sighed and looked up from the swing set he'd resting on and gazed up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set on the first day in his new home after his parents split up. He looked at what he knew should be the sun, but instead saw shit. He groaned and face-palmed a few times, but nothing changed.

'_I-I just wish I could go back in time or something..._' he thought, '_just go back and warn myself about this.'_

He chuckled quietly to himself- not like anyone else was around. He remembered back to the time when Cartman had gone all out on a hate spew against the Jews in a presentation during class. Even though he was the mediator, he couldn't help but laugh at the day-by-day arguments between his super best friend and "Fatass" Cartman. Cartman could be an ass sometimes, sure, but he knew get under Kyle's skin.

He thought back to the time he and his friends went into the dreams of their guidance counselor, Mr. Mackey, to find that his hoarding obsession contributed to the fact that he was molested by an owl as a child. Under normal circumstances, Stan would have thought he was high to accept something so strange as an everyday occurrence.

'_It must be a South Park thing_.'

He was reminded of the unpleasant times when he learned that Kyle was originally from New Jersey, when he uttered a similar phrase, and when Cartman was almost raped by Snookie from Jersey Shore.

'_Ugh, cynical or not, that show is shit_,' he concluded.

He sighed. He missed it all, from his weird and troubled friends, to his stupid parents, and even the sarcastic Mr. Garrison, there was something about all these people that he came to love.

'_Ugh…no! Just- Jesus Christ!_' Stan thought; he felt a stinging sensation in his eyes, which is normally accompanied by tears.

He couldn't face it any longer. He wanted his life to return to normal, what it was before all _this- the_ daily grind of waking up, going to school, coming home, and repeating.

'_At least then…at least my friends didn't think I was an asshole'_ Stan told himself, '_even my super best friend doesn't like me anymore!'_

He thought of a song by the band Coldplay. He didn't really listen to them, but he heard his dad listen to it every now and then. He specifically remembered the song "Clocks", which was really the only one he liked namely because that was their only song that he knew.

'_Home, home, where I wanted to go…home, home, where I wanted to go…' _

Stan remembered those last few verses of the song, along with the trademark piano crescendo and the sudden loss of acoustics and drums when only the piano echoed into the end of the song. He was surprised that he could slightly relate to it; apparently his cynicism had spread its cancerous tendrils through the _good_ music part of his brain.

'_Maybe…maybe things _will _return to normal' _Stan concluded. He thought…maybe…just _maybe_ he saw a little raw of sun light which quickly returned to a slightly brown tinged color in the sky. He must have been seeing things, or that was his small little ray of hope.

He thought the little pieces of shit parading around, spewing more shit; those ones from the movie trailer, and his face screwed up into a sort-of wince.

"Egh!" he exclaimed, shaking his head, walking back toward his new home.

"_Home, home…where I wanted to go….home, home, where I wanted to go….."_

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><p><strong>So, that's it! I didn't think it was too bad for my first try, but I'll leave that up to you to decide. We won't get our confirmed results until October 5<strong>**th****, when South Park resumes, so mark the date. I did –not- think I'd ever be saying this, but…**

**Rate and comment.**

**Flamers are **_**personae non grata.**_

**I take Latin.**


	2. Ch 2  Raw Hamburger

**Ok, so I decided to continue on with this and write another chapter, longer. I settled on looking at Stan's moving away from the other boys' point of view, so I give you…chapter 2!**

**I do not own South Park, Matt and Trey do.**

**Chapter 2 – Raw Hamburger**

It was a cold night in the mountain town of South Park, Colorado. Kenny McCormick huddled in his old uncomfortable bed, trying to keep warm, despite his heavy orange jacket zipped all up and his hood pulled tight.

'_This doesn't exactly help my mood.' _he thought in his head_. _Kenny had been more upset than he thought capable of himself when Stan Marsh revealed his new future to his friends. Kenny had withdrawn from Kyle and Cartman and kept to himself, and they were mulling over it themselves. He didn't think it was possible for a childhood friend to move away like that. '_Why am I being such a pussy? He's still in town, just farther away…and a cynical bastard.' _ Kenny told himself. He couldn't deny he was missing his friend, though. He couldn't really blame Stan for the cynicism, either – Kenny just hoped it wouldn't happen to him.

He got up and shuffled over to his desk and opened the top drawer. It only contained a few dusty photos – and a family of hungry termites. He took the photos out gingerly and took them over to his bed. He listened for a moment and sighed; his parents were fighting _again._ He looked through the photos. They were from second and third grade, pictures with Stan and Kyle and Cartman – them playing videogames, in the pool, etc. Their parents all took pictures and shared them with each other; all four boys had them.

He examined the first one. It was a picture of them all at Whistlin' Willy's Pizza Gulch. He couldn't help but snicker – they all had classic beer tankards filled with root beer. '_We were so weird...and we still are!' _Kenny laughed. The next picture was the four at the local pool. Kenny, Kyle and Stan stood smiling, having just finished a splash fight, and Cartman could be seen in the background yelling at a fat Mexican, accusing him of peeing in the pool. Cartman had a way of making people laugh, be it intentional or not.

The last photo was of all the boys on their big wheels. Kenny still had it, but it was all beat up...the same as it was last year. In the photo, Cartman had biker's goggles on and stood proudly next to his new-at-the-time big wheel.

Kenny felt a pang of loneliness. '_I _do _miss Stan, at least just hanging out with him. Everything is so boring now, and I'm too poor to buy new toys.'_

The others did not know that Kenny had a softer side besides his happy go lucky one. He genuinely missed Stan and hanging out with him and the rest of his friends. He contemplated seeing if Butters had wanted to do something, but he was grounded.

The sky outside had turned darker, not just with the approaching night, but with a storm. Big, fat drops of rain pattered across the poor roof of his home; and he knew it would not be long until water started to leak through.

He tore his gaze away from the ceiling and back to the photos. He still felt a connection to his them; though he felt stupid having kept them after all this time and he thought they would've ended up in the garbage by now.

'_I might as well hang onto these…just in case.'_ Kenny didn't have many things in his room to remind him of happier times, so a picture of his friends would do.

He tore a scrap of bed sheet off his bed and wrapped it around the photos, an attempt at protecting them from whatever. He put them back into his drawer and slowly closed it, his sigh muffled by his hood. He went over to his dirty window and looked outside. The streets were empty and rain was pouring down now.

'_No, definitely not a very bright day,' _Kenny thought in his head.

A crack of lightning filled the sky, followed by the rumble of thunder. A single tear fell from his eye in mourning of the now strained relationship with the other guys. Kenny did not take himself to be a crier, so he was surprised at the same time.

He turned away and dropped into bed, suddenly tired. He lay awake for a while, just thinking, before dosing off to the sound of a downpour and thunder.

The next morning, a bright and clear Saturday, Kenny saw Kyle and called him over.

"Kyle! Dude! Over here." Kyle hurried over to him.

"Uh, hey Kenny. What's up, man?" Kyle looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep either, Kenny noted.

"Not much…so how are you?" Kenny asked awkwardly. He knew small talk was not his strong suit.

"Okay, I guess. I just saw Cartman over at the KFC with a bucket of chicken. He was giving me dirty looks through the window, the fatass." Kyle laughed. Kenny could tell Kyle was just trying to keep up appearance; he was still bummed out about Stan. Kenny did not blame him; they were super best friends after all.

"Listen, I uh...I just wanted to see how you were doing. Past few days have been hard...for me, too. We've known Stan for so long, and it was all so sudden, so I...I was just wondering how you were holding up." Kenny avoided Kyle's gaze while he spoke, because there was still an awkward tension hanging around.

Kyle's face sagged, the sadness and emptiness once again becoming imminent. Kenny patted him on the shoulder knowingly.

Kyle sighed and spoke, "I know he's being an ass, Kenny, but I don't blame him. It's just the cynicism. I hope he can get over it, or we can just forget about it…I don't know. Hey, thanks for asking, it's still hard, but I guess you feel the same." Kyle smiled.

Kenny saw this as a perfect opportunity to brighten the mood. "That's…what she said?" He snickered.

Kyle snorted and laughed, but he felt better. He looked at Kenny. "I'm hungry, you want to go grab something to eat?" he asked.

Kenny became excited; he was poor, so even something like eating fast food with a friend felt like going to a five star restaurant. "Shit, really? All I've had for the past two days is a raw hamburger because the gas company turned the gas off again! I hope you're paying, though. After that we can make faces at the old people through the barber shop window!"

Kyle laughed, and they began walking toward town together. They had each other's company, and both felt better for the time being.

'_Maybe,' _Kenny thought, '_it won't be as bad as I thought' _

**Alright, that actually had some conversation in it, and I hope you enjoyed it. Give me some feedback; constructive criticism is welcome, anything to make the stories more appealing. If you liked, I will start a third chapter from Cartman's point of view. Let me know, because it is the Year of the Fan and all that so it's about you!**

**Peace!**


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